US: study points out that car “voice recognition” is a hassle

A new research coming from the J.D. Power experts has found that a communications “breakdown” is the main problem for many motorists – the car’s voice recognition system is painstakingly misinterpreting the user’s commands.

The Power study comes to support the vast majority of drivers complaining about the built in voice recognition systems – concluding they’ve become the No.1 issue in new vehicles. The J.D. Power 2014 Multimedia Quality and Satisfaction Study also points out that second “best” comes the very usual pairing of smartphones to a vehicle’s Bluetooth system.

“Voice recognition and device connectivity are often inherent to the technology design and cannot be fixed at the dealership, creating a high level of angst among new-vehicle owners, ” said Mike VanNieuwkuyk, executive director of global automotive at J.D. Power.

The report states that besides being the biggest common source of trouble, the systems seem to become worse – in the 2013 edition of the study the voice recognition systems received 7.6 complaints (they mean “problems per 100 vehicles”), while this year the tally has gone up to 8.3 complaints. Even if customers complain about the feature, at least 70% of the persons interviewed say they want their car to be voice programmable – adding they only want the system to do what they tell it to do.